Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar Self-Education

James Bach's smart and empowering guide to self-education, which shows how leading a life in pursuit of passion can lead to fulfillment and success.

James Marcus Bach is the son of bestselling author Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingston Seagull). After dropping out of school at the age of sixteen, he went on to become an expert in the field of computer software testing. He teaches critical thinking and software testing around the world and lives in Eastsound, Washington, with his wife, son, and two Shelties.

Dangerous Ideas: Schoolteachers don't like me very much	p. 1
After the Lecture	p. 4
This Book Is Not About School	p. 6
What Is Education?	p. 7
I Am a Buccaneer-Scholar: What's that and so what?	p. 9
My Paper Credentials	p. 10
High School Dropout	p. 11
My True Credentials	p. 14
The First Buccaneers: A free people, skilled in many arts	p. 18
Who Were the Buccaneers?	p. 18
What Does This Have to Do with Education?	p. 21
Buccaneers and the Enlightenment	p. 23
Who Can Be a Buccaneer?	p. 26
Why Be a Buccaneer?	p. 27
What I Do and How I Do It: Eleven elements of self-education	p. 30
Scouting Obsessively	p. 35
Authentic Problems	p. 36
Cognitive Savvy	p. 37
Knowledge Attracts Knowledge	p. 39
Experimentation	p. 40
Disposable Time	p. 41
Stories	p. 42
Contrasting Ideas	p. 43
Other Minds	p. 46
Words and Pictures	p. 47
Systems Thinking	p. 49
Making It Work: Heuristics and Great Secrets	p. 51
No Schoolmasters. No Fear	p. 56
Mental Mutiny:I tried to think, but nothing happened	p. 57
Declare Independence	p. 59
Refuse Homework	p. 61
Fail Tests on Purpose	p. 61
Implode	p. 62
The Silence of the Clams: The value of low-pressure learning	p. 65
How Did Clam Lore Improve My Life?	p. 72
The Principle of Peripheral Wisdom	p. 75
Peripheral Wisdom When Things Get Rough	p. 77
The Principle of Alternation	p. 78
The Follow the Energy Heuristic	p. 80
The Long Leash Heuristic	p. 83
Happy Learning, James! Discovering my passion; overcoming my fear	p. 86
A Learning Frenzy	p. 88
The Experiment That Changed My Life	p. 90
Cyclic Learning	p. 94
The Obsess and Forget Heuristic	p. 98
The Plunge In and Quit Heuristic	p. 100
The Procrastinate and Push Heuristic	p. 103
How Are These Heuristics Different?	p. 107
Emancipated Minor: I quit school and lived	p. 109
Leaving Home and School	p. 110
Entering the Software Business	p. 117
Guaranteed Not Stupid: How do I know I'm any good?	p. 121
Love and Plunder	p. 127
Self-Appraisal for Buccaneers	p. 127
Reputation, Tests, and Portfolio	p. 146
No Prey, No Pay: Buccaneering at work	p. 149
The Thrill of Being Needed	p. 152
Catching the College Kids	p. 154
My Learning Is My Work	p. 157
Playing the Expert Game	p. 160
Treasure Map: The power of a personal syllabus	p. 165
The Encyclopedia Is a Poor Syllabus	p. 166
Scouting and the Syllabus	p. 167
Example: The Universe in a Grain of Testing	p. 169
Example: A Syllabus of Questions	p. 173
Dr. Bach: Buccaneering in the long run	p. 176
Hoisting the Black Flag	p. 178
A Society of Buccaneers	p. 181
Hunting in Packs	p. 187
Epilogue: At the helm	p. 191
Stars to Steer By: Famous buccaneers help me raise my son	p. 195
Acknowledgments	p. 207
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion

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Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials